Share this with

Following the capture of Welsh winger Daniel James from Swansea City on Friday afternoon, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be looking to press on with his transfer plans with the signing of a new right-back high on the Manchester United manager’s list of priorities.

After a decade of service at Old Trafford, Antonio Valencia, who started as a short-term fix before becoming the long-term solution to United’s right-back problem in the post-Gary Neville era, has departed, while Matteo Darmian is also expected to move on.

With the talented yet raw Diogo Dalot the only specialist right-back in Solskjaer’s plans, it is an area of the squad that requires strengthening and according to reports, there are two players in the frame to fill the spot vacated by Valencia: Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Thomas Meunier of PSG.

Besides both playing at right-back, there isn’t too much that Wan-Bissaka and Meunier have in common, which makes United’s interest in the pair interesting, so who would be better suited to fulfilling Solskjaer’s demands next season and beyond?

The first-choice: Wan-Bissaka

Considering United have made a concrete bid for Wan-Bissaka, it appears as though the England U21 international is Solskjaer’s primary target which makes sense given the club’s transfer policy this summer looks set to revolve around acquiring young British talent.

Wan-Bissaka has enjoyed a whirlwind start to his professional career, only making his Crystal Palace debut in February 2018 due to an injury crisis in defence. Roy Hodgson confirmed earlier this year that prior to his debut, Wan-Bissaka had expressed an interest in going on loan to a club in League Two.

Chucked in at the deep end, Wan-Bissaka faced Christian Eriksen, Alexis Sanchez and Eden Hazard in his first three senior outings for the Eagles and after coming through those individual battles with his reputation enhanced, he solidified his position in Hodgson’s starting XI.

Only Luka Milivojevic and Patrick Van Aanholt played more Premier League minutes for Palace last season than Wan-Bissaka, who would have featured in more than 35 Premier League games had he not been sent off against Liverpool in August.

Wan-Bissaka was named Crystal Palace’s Player of the Year for the 2018/19 season (Picture: Getty)

It is not hard to see why Wan-Bissaka established himself as one of the first names on Hodgson’s team sheet. No defender across Europe’s top five leagues won more tackles than his 129 in the Premier League, while only Wilfred Ndidi and Idrissa Gueye topped his total.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Wan-Bissaka’s record is even more impressive when you consider that he only attempted 139 tackles, meaning that only ten players got the better of him in one-on-one situations. In terms of interceptions, meanwhile, only Etienne Capoue (with 85) made more than Wan-Bissaka’s 84.

Clearly, the defensive aspect of the game is Wan-Bissaka’s strong suit, although his record of three assists in a low-scoring Palace side is also not to be sniffed at. Wan-Bissaka would be expected to become more of an attacking threat at a bigger club and at 21 he certainly has time on his side to develop that area of his game.

With Solskjaer looking to assemble a young, hungry side built primarily around a British core, Wan-Bissaka would be a perfect, if admittedly expensive player to help kickstart the revolution.

The alternative: Thomas Meunier

As United have demonstrated on numerous occasions during Ed Woodward’s time as Executive Vice-Chairman, they are not afraid of splashing out on transfers, spending approximately £800m on players since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

Even with a club of United’s resources, though, Crystal Palace’s £60m valuation of Wan-Bissaka might prove to be restrictive. The Eagles are also not prepared to sell him and Wilfried Zaha in the same window, while Wan-Bissaka is said to be content at Selhurst Park.

Consequently, other options may have to be explored and a far more achievable deal would be one for Meunier, who is reportedly available for transfer this summer with PSG looking to juggle their finances to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.

Advertisement

The 27-year-old made 29 appearances in all competitions for PSG last season but he was in and out of the side with Thomas Tuchel regularly rotating him with the veteran Dani Alves. With this summer representing PSG’s final opportunity to sell Meunier, they are likely to do so especially as he isn’t an undisputed starter.

Meunier scored five goals in 29 games for PSG last season (Picture: Getty)

Unlike Wan-Bissaka, Meunier is renowned more for his qualities going forward than his defensive ones. During three seasons in the French capital, Meunier has scored 12 goals in 99 appearances while he also has six from 36 matches for Belgium – including a hat-trick against Gibraltar in August 2017.

For his national team, Meunier plays as a right wing-back in Roberto Martinez’s favoured 3-4-3 system and considering his attacking instincts, that is a role that suits him more than playing in back four where there is a greater onus on defending.

Nevertheless, Solskjaer’s desire to implement an entertaining brand of football at United will demand plenty of attacking intent from the full-backs and there are few defenders in Europe quite as effective going forward as Meunier.

With PSG reportedly holding out for around £25m for Meunier, he would also represent a far cheaper option than Wan-Bissaka which would enable United extra funds to strengthen elsewhere with Solskjaer also keen on landing a centre-back, defensive midfielder and a playmaker.

The verdict

The issue that the club have had recently has not been about spending money but more so who that money has been spent on. In chasing high-profile stars, United have too often ended up with the wrong player, with Angel Di Maria, Fred and of course, Alexis Sanchez, high-profile examples of their flawed strategy.

As their rivals Liverpool have shown, though, there is nothing wrong with spending vast sums on players if they strengthen the squad considerably. Both Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson bought for £75m and £67m respectively, have transformed a previously leaky defence into arguably the best in Europe.

Wan-Bissaka could be United’s starting right-back for the next decade (Picture: Getty)

Spending £60m on an uncapped 21-year-old right-back with one full season of Premier League football behind them may seem excessive, but Wan-Bissaka is already one of the best players in his position in the league and will only improve further in the future.

By signing Wan-Bissaka, United could solve their right-back dilemma for the next decade while committing to his signature would further demonstrate the club’s overdue change in transfer policy.